Author's Note: Hi everyone! Thank you for all the fantastic reviews for the past two chappies! I'm so excited and grateful for all of you readers and reviewers out there! Wow, 25 reviews total... Much more than I expected. Here are my personal thanks to all the people who reviewed. I clumped everything together this time to "conserve" room.

Seguha: Thank you! Sorry, I don't have an AIM or MSN. I know, it's pathetic, but my dad says that it gets really annoying... mischiefmagnet: Thanks for the encouragement! Oh, and don't take me wrong. I really like your long reviews. They help me a lot. Gauri92: Aw, thank you! TennyoCeres1982: Thanks! yugiohfan2005: Yeah, I like yamixanzu pairings, too, but my current fav is setoxanzu. Thanks for reviewing! KeikoGurl: Yeah, I was a bit worried about Kaiba's feelings, too. I guess that they aren't romantic feelings, just some idle thoughts. I dunno. Thank you for being honest! suzieq2005: Thanks! DK Raven: Thank you! Blackrosewitch: Thanx! girlmagic: Thank you! I actually meant to write "Mrs Anzu Kaiba" to make it clear, but I guess you understood! Gekkou Hana: Thanks! Just so you know, I love your stories. amberblood: Thank you for the compliments and being honest! KaibaYamiLover: Thank you! Kagome1316: Thank you! Aw, my story's not that awesome... it's decent, I guess... SilverStorm106: Thanks! I'm glad you liked it!

Okies, so that's done. Now. :rubs hands together: On to other stuff. I've got a lot to say, so bear with me.

(1) I just want you guys to know that I'm going to refer to all of the characters in their American names, ok? I'm not that familiar with the Japanese ones. In addition, I made a character up(Turi Kuriko) in this chapter. I don't speak Japanese, so the name is completely made up. Not authentic at all.

(2) I know that Kaiba's feelings were a bit... I dunno... obsessive?... forward?... in the last chapter. Sorry if I was a bit too rushed in that part. I just had to write it.

(3) Um, I have a couple fanfic words that I don't understand. Can anyone enlighten me?
Words: -shipping(azureshipping, crownshipping, etc.); lemon

(4) Um, I want everyone to know that in some parts of this chappie and maybe future ones, Anzu will be going out a lot for shopping, etc. Sometimes there isn't any media around. The reason for that is because... Hm... Because Anzu looks different in real life than on TV and stuff. That's how it is for real celebs, I think. I dunno.

(5) From now on, I can't update as often, unfortunately, because:

1- School's starting soon

2- My family's moving... Literally across the street. Actually, three streets, but whatever.

I'm going to be more busy over the next month. Sorry.

(6) I made an arcade game in this story called "DDR Freestyle" I'm not really one for dancing, so I kind of made up the "Dance Battle" thing. I have vaguely heard about dance battles before, but I don't know much about them. So I made up a lot of stuff. Sorry!

(7) This chapter's reeeaaaally long. Kind of. Well, longer than the first two. There's not much romance; it mostly has to do with the gang and stuff. It's also very melodramatic. And cheesy. Ok, I've warned you, so don't criticize me too much:wince:

Ok, that's all I can think of right now! On to chapter three:salute:

Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh. Nor do I own any of the music listed in this chapter. But I do own the Dance Dance Revolution Freestyle thing. But not Dance Dance Revolution. Gosh, that game is fun...

Anywhere But Here

Ch. 3: Old Times

The morning light of the next day bled through the blue and pink curtains of Anzu's bedroom. It spread itself over the room, casting a warm, golden glow on the said room. Anzu sat amid the mess of what was a blue and pink blanket, half-asleep, enjoying the warmth from the sun and blankets intoxicating her.

A loud version of "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" (by Green Day) suddenly blasted from her cellphone, which was rumbling. "Uhhh," she groaned. She did not want to get up, or move, or do anything at the moment. Yesterday had been long. The meeting yesterday hadn't exactly been boring, but extremely time consuming. She and Mr Takigawa went over so many little technical things... it as a bit exhausting.

After that, she had gone back to her home to adjust all her little and not-so-little accessories in her house, which took a ridiculous amount of time... and then she had to endure a talk with her publicity manager, Kai. But that had actually gone differently than she had expected.

---Flashback---

"...There," Anzu whispered, putting a vase of exotic flowers on her dining table. She rushed off to adjust something else, when the phone(actually, phones) rang. Anzu picked one up. "Hello?"

"Anzu, what's all this all over the propaganda?" the male voice exploded. Anzu put it on speakerphone and turned down the volume."Hello, Kai," she said miserably, knowing that she was in trouble. "Eh, what are you talking about?" she hesitantly asked.

"Don't play dumb. Right when I turned on my office TV this afternoon, you were all over it. That's always very good or very bad. Tell me, what were you thinking?"

"Anzu sighed, adjusting the magazines on the wall rack. "Sorry, I just couldn't watch that cute cat on the road get squashed into a little... kitty sandwich. By the way, how is it?"

"One of the staff returned it to its rightful owner. But don't change the subject. But let's concentrate on what's really important here. Kaiba! How did you get him to hug you like that? And he was lying on top of you."

"Wha-?" Anzu began, but then she realized how it must have looked for them to... Anzu felt her face grow hotter by the second. Instead of answering Kai, she said, "Was the whole thing recorded or something?"

"Duh," was Kai's reply. "Just turn on your TV. Every channel's talking about it, but go to 16; I want us two to be watching the same thing." Anzu did this, and the plasma TV suddenly sprang to life. "Anzu Mazaki. The rising celebrity with the grace of the impossible. Seto Kaiba. The CEO of one of the world's most powerful companies. What do these two have in common? Believe it or not, they have a relationship that is more than meets the eye. Joe Hishiato has the story." The screen suddenly showed the face of a young man with blond hair. He was standing right in front of KaibaCorp. "Anzu Mazaki woke up to a very busy morning. As she was walking through downtown Domino today at ten in the morning, she had a very busy meeting with KaibaCorp to go to. The world-renowned dancer and part-time model had only come back to Domino last night, and already she was down to business. Her day was about to get busier. This morning, Anzu Mazaki was reported to have a saved a cat in the middle of this crosswalk that I am standing by right now. She jumped into the middle of the street and scooped the cat up, and tumbled to the other side of the road. What's more, witnesses say that Seto Kaiba, the famous, handsome CEO of KaibaCorp, had followed suit, and had run into the road with her also to save something. But instead of saving a cat, he saved Anzu. No one was hurt, and both parties refuse to say anything more to the media."

The screen was replaced with a video. It didn't show the first part of the... ordeal, but started with Anzu grabbing the cat. She fell down, and out of nowhere, Kaiba's black and silver coat covered her. After stopping at the other side, they both sat up, and eventually got up. Then, Anzu slowly took off her sunglasses. Anzu turned off the TV. "Where did they get all the information about my whereabouts?" she asked Kai, exasperated. He didn't answer. "Kai?"

"See? The spotlight's on you. This is awesome!" Kai answered.

Anzu was confused for a second. "Y-you're saying that this is a good thing?" she asked in disbelief.

"Uh... yeah... I mean, you're publicity's up and all...," Kai said slowly, as if speaking to a third grader.

Anzu sighed in relief. "Whew! I thought you were mad at me," she exclaimed.

"Why, of course not! Now that you and Seto Kaiba are an item, your popularity will shoot up, higher than ever. Though it is already amazingly high as it is-"

"Uh, no," Anzu replied firmly. "Kaiba and I are so not an item. And that is fi-nal." She emphasized the last word.

She heard an exasperated sigh at the other end of the phone. "Uh, yes," Kai said, mimicking Anzu. "You and Kaiba are so an item, and that is fi-nal. I will make sure to hook you two up. Why didn't I think of it before? You... Kaiba... it goes together like bread and butter!"

"Whatever," Anzu sighed, rolling her eyes. But little did she know how serious Kai was.

---End Flashback---

She was brought back to reality from the abrupt stop of her cellphone music. Apparently, she had accidentally pressed the green button. "Oh!" She quickly put the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

"Good morning, Anzu!" Serenity's bright voice said. "Oh, hey Serenity!" Anzu replied cheerfully. She always looked forward to Serenity's calls- she was like a little sister to her. Serenity, Mai and Anzu had gotten very close after Battle City.

"So, what's up?" Anzu asked. "Oh, nothing," Serenity said sarcastically. "Let's see... I'm just going to be seeing my best friend aka big sister for the first time in six years! Not to mention that she's now a famous celeb who I probably won't recognize..."

Anzu giggled, her reluctance to get up forgotten. She flopped over on her bed so that her legs could slowly crisscross in the air. "I hope you didn't forget our shopping date today," Serenity said sternly.

"How could I forget?" Anzu laughed. "I'll send a limo to pick you up, and the Mai, ok? I'll show you guys around my place, and then we'll go downtown. And after that, we'll prepare for the get-together with the guys tonight, ok?"

"Sounds good to me," Serenity replied. "Come over at say... ten?" Anzu said that it was great, and they hung up. And with that, Anzu hopped out of bed.

After going to the bathroom to brush her teeth and everything, Anzu went back into her bedroom to pick an outfit. She finally chose a pale pink cami top with no jacket; judging from a brief look outside, today was going to be a breezy but warm summer day. She chose a short, beige skirt and put on a pair of simple, white flip-flops with two white flowers with sequined-centers. Anzu then put her hair half up, in a half -bun to the side.(AN: I dunno how to explain it, but it looks really good.) She was never really one for lots of make-up, so Anzu only put on the faintest bit of pink eyeshadow and some shiny lip gloss. To top it of, Anzu put on a pair of sliver, dangling earrings with little, pink puffs.

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Serenity's first reaction to seeing Anzu's transformed look... was screaming. (AN: How un-Serenity-like!) "Ohmigod, ohmigod, ANZU!" she screamed, jumping up and down at the sight of her friend(while hugging her at the same time). Anzu had just emerged from her limo and was doing all she could to make Serenity quieter and let go of her. "Shush, Serenity! IF anyone hears you, the media will be on me like dogs!"

Suddenly, she felt a pair of eyes on her. "Joey!" she screamed, and ran up to hug him. (She was unaware of Anzu in the background, muttering something about hypocrites.) He instantly blushed a deep shade of red. "Now, Joey," she laughed, giving him a playfully stern eye. "Don't you dare let Mai see you drooling like that. It's unseemly." Joey, who really was drooling, instantly snapped his saliva back up(ewww).

Anzu let Serenity get in the limo first. Before she got in, though, she called out to Joey, "I'll see you at the get-together at Yugi's tonight!" Joey nodded dumbly.

When the door was fully closed, Serenity began to laugh really hard. "What's so funny?" Anzu asked. Serenity smiled. "You should have seen the look on Big Brother's face when he saw you!
Anzu grinned. "Yeah, his eyes were like dinner plates," she giggled. They chatted about old times at school and Battle City among other things.

Serenity, who was not twenty, was still in college, so she wasn't able to go out with the gang very often. She was learning to be a teacher at a school for kids with disabilities. She was still quiet and shy around strangers, but had grown to be more outgoing over the years. Today, Serenity's auburn-colored hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail, with her long bangs at both sides of her head. She wore a light pink button-up shirt and white pants.

Soon, the white limo pulled up to Mai's fairly large complex, and there was Mai, leaning on the gate. When Serenity and Anzu got out of the car, Mai squealed, and crushed Anzu in a death-gripped-hug. "Ohmigod, ohmigod, ANZU!" Mai screamed. Anzu winced, and laughed, saying, "Precisely what Serenity said." Mai also laughed, and Anzu returned the fierce embrace. Mai took a step back to look Anzu over. "Look at you," she said in awe. "I knew you were gorgeous from all the magazines and stuff, but you are different in real life!" After some chatting, they eventually got in the limo. "Let's go to my place," she told the chauffeur. "Wow," Mai said in an admired voice as she examined the high-tech gadgets on the car, such as the flat-screen TV that descended from the ceiling and a laptop that had wireless internet. "Even I don't have such high-tech stuff in my limo," she said in awe.

And that said something about Anzu's wealth. Mai was now a famous fashion designer, founder of the huge company, "ValentineHart." It was very successful, and sold clothing, perfume, and makeup. Now that Anzu was back in Japan, Mai had invited her to model for fun for ValentineHart's ads and magazines. Mai was wearing a black halter top and a short skirt. Her long locks of blonde hair curled at her waist.

After a few minutes, the three girls arrived at Anzu's complex. Serenity and Mai looked in awe at the lobby on the first floor, which had a cherry-blossom theme. The whole lobby was huge and the ceiling was seven stories up, with a sunroof. Beyond that was an aerial garden for the higher levels, which were divided into two different sections. "This place must be expensive!" Serenity exclaimed as they got in the elevator.

Anzu rolled her eyes. "Is there anything the Anzu Mazaki can't buy?" she joked. "Great, now I"m beginning to sound like Kaiba..." She instantly froze, realizing what she had just blurted out.

Serenity didn't seem to notice anything about Anzu's reaction to her own comment. "Oh yeah what was that that happened between you and Mr Kaiba yesterday? It's all over TV. I'm surprised that the media hasn't found us yet."

"Oh, um, well, we have our ways of hiding ourselves from them. Celebs are are always experts at this kind of stuff," Anzu replied.

"But how about you and Kaib-"

"Oh, here we are, the fifteenth floor" Anzu interrupted, flustered, and quickly exited the elevators. "This is such a peaceful place. There are only two complexes on this floor, so it's quiet. And it has a great view. There are actually sixteen floors to the building, but the sixteenth is a garden. Isn't that cool?"

Serenity nodded enthusiastically, but Mai only smiled. "Hmmm," she thought. "Anzu usually doesn't interrupt people like that. I wonder if it has to do with Kaiba..." Mai put on a sly look. She let her mind wander as Anzu fumbled with the house keys. "It'd be good for Anzu to have some, ah... romance now. From her calls in New York, she didn't seem to even have a love life. Too busy, I guess..."

"Ta-da!" Anzu opened the door to reveal her glorious penthouse. They walked in through a little hall, and into the living room. All the floors were bamboo wood. The furniture and exquisite decorations were all contemporary. There was an expensive black leather couch, a dark blackish-brown entertainment center/table, and a matching coffee table. Above the entertainment center was a huge plasma TV. Modern, contemporary lights brightened the place as they arrived with a click of a button.

"OK, you guys can look around for a second, I just need to check something on my computer really quickly. Make yourselves at home," Anzu hurried off to her little study room.

Mai and Serenity slowly meandered through the huge place. The kitchen, which was beside the front door and living room, was full of stainless steel machines and had a red and white theme. As they walked through the dining room, breakfast nook, balcony, and the other places, Serenity and Mai could clearly see that Anzu had indeed chosen a great place to live.

"Alright, we can go now! Oh, did you guys go upstairs?" Anzu asked. The others shook their heads. "Oh, c'mon, that's the best par" She lead them up some stairs near the front door. She then opened the door at the top. They stepped outside.

The gardens on top of the Rosewood Suites was breathtaking. It was a mini version of the Rosewood Park across the street. There was a fountain in the center, though this one was a stone rose in the center with trees growing in the fountain. An iron fence lined the perimeter, only adding beauty to the garden. There were beautiful flowers everywhere, and a strong scent of roses and lavender filled the air.

After ten minutes of looking around, Anzu finally broke the silence. "You guys can come over here anytime in the future, ok? Here are a set of my keys." She handed one to Mai and one to Serenity. "Ok, let's go!" she cheerily said. Soon, they were on the limo, off to downtown Domino for a promising day.

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The bright lights of a Dance Dance Revolution Freestyle game flashed temptingly at the edge of the SOGO mall's arcade, which was connected to the food court. A pretty girl with short, green hair sauntered up to the game and hopped onto the dance pad. As the music started, she began to show off dance moves and steps. Two of her friends stood by the pad, cheering her.

Anzu slowly sipped her strawberry smoothie, watching her. She was sitting in the adjacent food court with Mai and Serenity. They had feverishly shopped for three hours straight. Which wasn't that long a time, actually, but it was exhausting if you were one of the three girls. The trio had a tradition when they were younger to shop for hours and hours on end as if there was no tomorrow. Not that they actually bought tons and tons of stuff; it was more like they covered a lot of area. The girls had mowed through three malls and they were actually shopping on all seven floors of each mall, not just running through them. It wasn't actual shopping, but more like the occasional sheer fun that they'd do once or twice a month.

And now the three wre exhausted. They had went to the underground food court in the SOGO mall, and had eaten a very satisfying meal.

Mai had been watching Anzu closely for the past couple hours. Her suspicion on Anzu having something to do with Kaiba had turned from a minor, wandering thought to something worth investigating. Mai slyly smiled. Ooh, she just loved being matchmaker.

And could there be a more perfect couple to match? Sure, maybe they hadn't been on best of terms in Duelist Kingdom or Battle City, but that was long ago. Mai was sure that they'd be great together. And soon. Mai wasn't one to hesitate, and was very forward in romance(as you can see). They had already taken a big step- the cat act. Seriously, how romantic! Which brought her to wonder...

"Say, Anzu, what's with you and Kai-?" Just as she expected, Anzu interrupted with a huge slurp of her smoothie. She faked a cough, and said, "That went down the wrong way." Mai rolled her eyes. That was the fourth time she had asked, and that was the fourth time Anzu had cut her off.

"Aaaanzuuu," Mai drawled, resting her chin on her hand. "I know you too well to fall for that. C'mon, hon, answer my question. What's all this on TV about you and Kaiba?"

Anzu blushed, though she tried hard not to. The embarrassment of having Seto Kaiba pressed on top of her body in front of flashing cameras, while hugging her protectively, was finally sinking in. Even though this person was an arrogant jerk, he was still a male, and to have a body pressed up against you like that... Well. That doesn't happen every day.

Mai snapped her fingers in Anzu's face. "Anzu. Anzu! You're spacing out again... So... answer my question."

Anzu looked at them and sighed. Mai was staring intently in her face, and Serenity had perked up, thoroughly interested. There was no way out of this one. But Anzu would still fight.

"I'll be clear," she replied, surprised at how steady and calm her voice seemed. "There is nothing, nothing, going on between me and him. The little... ah... thing that happened yesterday was an accident. That's it. End of story."

The other two didn't bite. "I know there must be more," Serenity pressed, smiling mischievously.

"Nope. Nada. Except for a little contra-... Em, like I said, there's nothing between us." Anzu bit her lip and mentally punched herself. That was the first time in a long while that she had made a slip like that.

As expected, Serenity and Mai pounced. "Contract? You have a contract with Kaiba?"

"With KaibaCorp, yes. Wait, no, not like that! It's business, and it will strictly be only business," Anzu said hurriedly after seeing the look passed between Mai and Serenity.

"Mmmm," was the only reply Mai gave. That would be enough questioning for now. She didn't want Anzu suspicious. There was a thoughtful silence.

"Hey," Serenity said suddenly. "What's with that crowd around the arcade?" They looked over there. Sure enough, a huge crowd was forming around the DDR game. "Let's go check it out," Anzu suggested. The trio picked up their shopping bags and stuff, and walked over to the crowd.

Two people were competing on the dance pads. Anzu recognized one of them to be the green-haired girl who was playing earlier. Her competitor was a blonde-haired girl with glasses.

Each girl was on a huge dance pad, freestyle dancing(Hence the name of the game) to a song. The way that the machine worked for a two-player competition(Dance Battle) was that each girl first picked a song from the huge variety that the game had. Then, one of the two songs were randomly chosen to play first. As the two opponents began to dance, a very high-tech computer recorded their moves through the touch-sensitive dance pad and the video scanner, which both identified and rated each move. An overall score was made for each player, and a winner was announced. This highly addictive game had only been released for three weeks, but it had quickly become a very popular game, drawing huge crowds when the opponents were good.

Soon, the dance battle ended, with the green0haired girl the victor. Anzu began to clap, but her hands froze in midair. Instead of smiling and showing good sportsmanship, the girl smirked and held her hand out. The blonde girl slowly put something in it. Anzu caught a glimpse of it and gasped. Money? They were betting in the mall? It was illegal to bet like this in a dance duel... at least in all indoor malls in the city of Domino. Such dance battles could only be held in official competitions that were permitted.

The blonde girl slowly got off of the dance platform. The other girl looked arrogantly at the crowd, obviously enjoying the attention and power. "Well, who dares to challenge me in a dance duel?" she sneered. "I'll crush any of you."

Anzu grinned. This was going to be fun. "No one?" the girl said loudly over the crowd. "No one wants to dance against me? Are you that afraid? Not that I blame you- you must all know how good a dancer I am. I haven't lost to anyone today. No one challenges me?"

"I challenge you," Anzu said in a clear voice. The crowd turned to look at her. Even Mai and Serenity looked shocked. (AN: Ooh, I just love drama!)

"Mmm...ok," her opponent-to-be said in a bored tone. "You'll probably be a waste of my time, but I guess I have nothing else to do. But you do know how DDR duels work, right?"

"Yes, I do," Anzu said with a thin smile. This girl was so in for it. She wouldn't even know that she was playing against a world-renowned dancer. Anzu shared mischievous glances with Mai and Serenity. "Don't go too hard on her," Serenity mouthed.

Anzu made her way up to the DDR platform. "I don't care what your name is, but you'll want to know mine when I get famous. I'm Turi Kuriko."

"Mmm," was Anzu's calm, indifferent reply. A flash of irritation flew across Turi's face, but she quickly smoothed it over. "Now, when you play with me, we go by my rules. Dancing is all about the money- without it, it is nothing. Our bet is simple. You bet some cash, I bet some cash. Winner takes all."

Though her poker face revealed nothing, Anzu "Mentally" gritted her teeth together. She'd have to teach Turi a lesson about the real meaning of dancing some time. As in now.

"I'll wager... $200. Would you like to raise it?" Turi said, smirking again.

Anzu's expression didn't change, but she though, "This girl is really full of herself! Her ego needs some hammering down... Wait, this is a lot like someone I used to know..." (hint hint)

Anzu gestured at the blonde girl with glasses, who was watching among the big(and growing) crowd. "How much did you bet with her?"

"$100," Turi replied indifferently.

"Man, these people bet a lot!" Anzu thought. She grinned, an idea forming in her mind. "Hmm...ok," she said out loud. "I'll raise it to five times that." A gasp rippled through the crowd. "W-what?" Turi asked, surprised.

"Ok, I'll just do the math for you. One hundred times five is... Five hundred bucks. I'll lower it if you don't have enough money," Anzu taunted.

"No, it's fine," Turi said quickly. "I have enough money... but do you?" she sneered.

Anzu sighed and took her wallet out of her purse. She waved a wad of one hundred bills in a bored fashion at the surprised Turi. "Uh huh. Now do you want to raise the stakes or begin the battle?" Turi opted for the latter.

Both girls went up to the two computer screens at the front of each pad. They each chose a song for both players to dance to. Then, they backed up onto the seven-foot-by-seven-foot dance platforms, waiting for the music to begin.

Turi's choice of music played first. It was the famous American song, "Toxic," by Britney Spears. Anzu let the music flow through her ears, then into her blood... traveling in her hot veins, pumping through her body...

Soon, Turi's song ended. Anzu's began. It was a seven-minute club mix of the techno/rock song "All The Things She Said," by TATU, a duo of two Russian(or maybe Yugoslavian... I dunno) girl singers.

Anzu slowly closed her eyes again, embracing the music. This was what she lived for. The feeling of the music inside her, rushing through her head... the exhilaration, the grace of the dance... True dance came from inside of you... it came from inside your blood... That was the true meaning of dance...

...The rhythm pumping in your veins, becoming one with your heartbeat...

...So much freedom... the only thing to restrain you is yourself...

The music faded away, leaving a soft beat, which, too, soon ceased. Anzu opened her eyes reluctantly, letting the music drain out of her body.

The two computer screen, which had had animations while the music was on, turned black. A white word was blazed across each one: "Processing..." Then, the results appeared.

"Player... One," the mechanical voice stated. "87.7 percent. B plus."

Turi relaxed, smirking at the audience. In this dance game, B+ was extremely good.

"Player... Two," the same female mechanical voice said. "97.8 percent. A plus."

Turi's smirk was wiped off. "Th- that's impossible!" she sputtered. "No one's ever gotten above 91.4 percent! This machine must be broken!"

Whispers immediately rippled through the crowd. Finally, one person called out, "No. We saw her dance. She was magical; she clearly won." Murmurs of agreement filled the air.

Anzu crossed her arms and walked over to Turi, who had sank onto the ground. "I don't mean to be rude, but I've won."

Turi didn't respond. Slowly, very slowly, she took out her purse and wordlessly handed Anzu the money. Anzu accepted the five hundred dollars. She sifted through it, to make sure it was all there. It was.

Then, Anzu took two fifties out of the pile. She turned around and locked eyes with the blonde girl who had danced against Turi earlier. With her index finger, Anzu beckoned her. The crowd was dead silent. You could hear a pin drop.

Slowly, the girl walked to the front of the crowd. Anzu walked down the steps of the platform and toward the girl. Her footsteps clicked and echoed in the quiet food court. She stopped in front of the girl.

"What's your name?" Anzu asked softly.

"Fuu," the girl answered shyly.

"Fuu, take this money. It's yours. Spend it usefully," Anzu said.

Fuu nodded and accepted the money. With a pat on the shoulder, Anzu walked back up onto the platform. Turi looked away, not meeting Anzu's eyes. Anzu bent down, took Turi's hand, and pressed the remaining four hundred dollars on it. "And same goes for you." And with that, Anzu stepped off the platform, walking over to the gawking Mai and Serenity. She jerked her head toward the exit. They understood immediately, and began to follow her through the suddenly whispering crowd.

"What's your name?" Turi finally called after her.

"Anonymous," Anzu called back, and they were out of the crowd, out of the doors. "You didn't need to make it so dramatic, you know," Mai murmured.

"What? And miss out on all that fun? Mai, you know me better than that." They all laughed, and Serenity said, "C'mon guys. We've got a get-together to get ready for!"

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Kaiba closed his eyes, calming himself. He leaned back on the luxurious limo seat. That Mazaki was getting really annoying. Maybe if he hadn't dived into the road with her yesterday, all this bad luck wouldn't have occurred. But it was instinct, and he reacted before thinking.

Why did she have to keep popping up?He had been peacefully walking out of one of the arcade meeting rooms after an appointment with the arcade manager about adding dueling stations to the arcade. Right when he walked out(with two bodyguard/butler people following), he had noticed the crowd gathering around the DDR Freestyle machine. Curious, Kaiba had walked to the edge of the crowd.

Only to see her again.

But she was so... beautiful... so much grace... Kaiba couldn't help but spare just a moment to watch her. A moment turned into ten minutes. Her dance was so... so perfect. An angel that had descended from heaven...

Whoooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaa there. Those words shouldn't even be in his vocabulary. The whole thought was way out of bounds. Kaiba began to reword the whole thought.

I saw her. She was dancing. I gave her a brief look. I left, never to see nor think about her ever again. End of story.

Kaiba ended that thought and snapped open his laptop. He had work to do. And he wouldn't-couldn't- let something- especially girls, The Cheerleader of all girls- get in the way. With that, Kaiba concentrated on his work. Surprisingly, he could.

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Yugi couldn't move. He stood there in his house's doorway, mouth ajar, staring at a blushing Anzu. She pouted. "Aren't you going to say hi?"

"Huh, huh, huh, huh-eye," Yugi sputtered, oblivious to the giggling Serenity and disapproved Mai in the background. "Can't accept this," Mai murmured to herself. "Anzu belongs to and only to S-" She was immediately clobbered by Anzu, who had a huge red pulse on her head. "Don't you dare-"

"Yugi? Who's that at the door? Are they here alre- oh my god." Duke Devlin stopped, and his mouth dropped open. "Oh, not you, too," Anzu laughed, untangling herself from Mai.

"Wha' happened?" Joey asked as he ran and slid into the entrance hall on his socks, with Tristan close behind. Their eyes both bulged out, and they stared shamelessly at Anzu. :utter silence:

"ANZUUU!" they shouted suddenly, and tackled her. "Can't... breathe..." she gasped, and Joey and Tristan got off of her, laughing as they helped her up,off of the wooden floors. "Told ja' she wuz go'-geous," Joey whispered to Tristan. "I didn't deny y- Oh, heh heh, hello Mai," Tristan said loudly, obviously to alert Joey. Joey jumped ten feet in the air, and also saw Mai. "H-hey Mai!" he said weakly, cowering under Mai's death glare.

Ryou and Yami(who now had a separate body and was Yugi's brother by law) also joined the scene. Ryou almost died at the sight of Anzu. But recovered quickly. Only Yami didn't overreact over Anzu's new look. She saw his eyes widen, but that was it. Anzu inwardly sighed. She had never really gotten over her crush on Yami. Oh well. At least he had given Anzu one of his rare smiles.

After all the excitement died down, Anzu was dragged to the Moto's living room. It was the same as always- same decorations, same furniture. The only difference was that balloons and streamers decorated the wall, and cartons of pizza were stacked on the kitchen table. Beer cans were scattered around the living room too. The TV was on ESPN football.

"Where's Grandpa?" Anzu asked, frowning. "Oh, he went out an hour ago to play billiards with some old friends. He told me to tell you sorry that he couldn't come."

Anzu looked a little disappointed. "Oh, it's ok, I'll just see him tomorrow or something," she replied. Yugi, Yami, Anzu and Serenity sat down on the big white couch while Mai sat in a recliner. Duke, Ryou, Joey and Tristan sat on the carpet in front of the couch, eyes glued to the TV, beer cans in hand.

As soon as everyone settled down, Anzu got up. "I'm going to get something else besides beer to drink," she announced, giving Mai a look that clearly told her to follow. "Anyone else want anything?"

"Some punch, please," Serenity replied, smiling. Tristan and Joey said simultaneously, "More beer." Mai got up, and said, "I'll help you get all that, hon."

When Anzu and Mai were in the kitchen and out of earshot, Mai said, "What was it that you wanted to say?" Anzu turned around to face Mai and crossed her arms. "Don't you dare tell them that I'm with Kaiba, or any nonsense like that," she said sternly.

"Ok, I won't," Mai answered, "But they'll probably figure out by themselves, anyway. They probably watched the news yesterday."

Anzu sighed, exasperated. " I am not with Kaiba, so stop talking like I am!"

"Whatever. But I can bet you that they know about the cat act. Unless they've been sitting under a rock."

Anzu hoped so. "Maybe they did."

Then Mai thought up an idea. "Say... Anzu, how much do you bet?" she said slyly. Anzu looked puzzled. "Bet what?" "Bet that they don't know about the cat act, dummy," Mai answered. "How about we make a deal? If, by the end of tonight, they don't show any signs of knowledge that they know about the cat act, I'll leave you alone about you and Kaiba."

Anzu thought about this for a second. "And what if they do know?" She said slowly. "Then you do a favor for me." This sounded too suspicious. "What kind of favor?" She asked. Mai put on the most innocent expression she could muster. "Oh, nothing outrageous. It's within reason, don't worry," she added.

Anzu pondered over this. She knew Mai- she wouldn't make Anzu do anything humiliating, or something completely against Anzu's will. It'd be safe. "...Ok," she said hesitantly. "You're on."

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As they watched TV, the gang talked on about work, old times, and other whatnot. Anzu was careful to bend around the topic of Kaiba. From the conversations, Anzu was caught up with all the changes that had happened over these years.

Yugi, Yami and Jou were now professional duelists that traveled all over the world for competitions. Tristan was a soccer professional on the Domino's famous soccer team. Ryou had taken up a quiet job as an archaeologist to study more about Egypt. Duke was now CEO of Dungeon Dice Co., a game-turned-small-company.

A couple hours passed. Everyone else didn't notice it, but there was a bit of a tension in the air around Anzu and Mai. Eventually, Duke had taken up teaching Ryou his new version of Dungeon Dice Monsters that was going to be released in half a year. Yami had gone to the backyard for some fresh air.

"Uh... ya gonna eat dat, Anzu?" Joey asked tentatively, indicating the piece of half-eaten pizza lying temptingly(to him, anyway) on the paper plate. "Nah, anyone can have it," Anzu replied. She was stuffed, after eating three slices of deep-dish pizza. "Aw, danks!" Joey said happily, and lifted it up with haste-

-To be snatched by Tristan, who took a teeny bite. "Hey, what are ya doin'?" Joey screamed, yanking the pizza from him. "Dis is my pizza! Go get your own!" He took a huge bite. "But there's none left!" Tristan whined. Joey took no notice. "Grrr..." Tristan snatched the pizza away.

"Ey! I said watch it!"

"You watch it!"

"Dat's mine!"

"But you ate nine pieces and I only had eight:munching noise:"

"EY!"

Anzu giggled and leaned back on the couch, closing her eyes. It was the perfect moment, just like it was back in the high school days... almost all of her close companions around her, having a good time... the TV in the background... Joey and Tristan arguing over pizza...

"Anzu," Yugi said softly. Anzu opened her eyes. "What?"

"Oh, nothing," Yugi answered, blushing. "I just thought that you might have dozed off or something.

"No... I was just thinking about how familiar this scene is... Just like the old times.. Almost everyone from Battle City's here."

"You say almost," Serenity noted.

"Well, yeah... I mean, Malik, Isis, and Odion aren't here. And Mokuba..." Anzu trailed off. Shoot. She knew where this was going.

And everything began to go downhill for Anzu from there.

" And his big brother, Seto Kaiba," Mai said, enunciating each articulate syllable with particular stress. Anzu gave Mai a glare that sent daggers and clearly said, "Don't you dare."

Um, a bit too late, though. Yugi visibly brightened at the name. "Oh, what was that on the new yesterday about you and Kaiba?" he asked innocently. "I didn't pay too much attention, considering that you're always on TV... I only saw a little bit. I think it was a video. It showed you holding a cat, and a man was around you. I didn't see his face, though. Hmm... but the headline said that Kaiba had to do with it... Funny, I don't see how..." Yugi paused for a second. He seemed to shrug off the thought. Anzu exhaled. That was too close.

And all in the span of four seconds, Yugi's face became puzzled again... and(Anzu could almost see the gears whirring in his head) he suddenly put two and two together. "Kaiba... the man... the video... that... it... it... him!" he suddenly exclaimed.

"HA!" Mai suddenly burst in triumph, jumping off the recliner and back onto it. "I WIIIIIIIIIINNNNN! I am now the proud owner of your Fate with-"

"What is going on?" Yami exclaimed. He had just walked back in from outside, and was staring at each bewildering scene- Yugi gagging on the couch, Anzu with her face in her hands, Mai jumping on the recliner. Ding! Four seconds up.

Yami looked back at Anzu, but she was nowhere to be seen He then saw her in the kitchen doorway with Mai in tow. "Um, I'd like to talk to Mai privately for a second," she said sweetly. Slam! The door closed.

Anzu turned around and gave Mai a smoldering glare that could set off smoke detectors. Mai smiled sweetly back, mimicking the smile Anzu had given Yami. "If you forgot, I'll remind you. We had a little bet earlier, and I'd like to claim my prize."

Anzu kind of deflated. All the fight seemed to go out of her. "Very well," she sighed. "What do you want?"

"Oh, not much," Mai said innocently, twirling her finger in her long, blonde curls. "Just a little business appointment with Kaiba. I have a few proposals to make."

Anzu glared suspiciously at Mai. "None of which have to do with hooking me up with him?"

Mai silently cursed. Anzu really was suspicious of Mai. She'd have to be more careful. "Of course not!" Mai said, waving the idea away. "I'd never do anything like that."

"Says the matchmaker," Anzu grumbled. "And what exactly do I have to do?"

"Set up the meeting, of course!" Mai exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "Whaaaaat?" Anzu simply gawked at the idea. "No way no way no way!" The idea of sitting down with Kaiba and proposing to him to have a meeting with her friend... she'd be at his complete mercy- Kaiba would have control over whether to accept the idea... or crush it, thus humiliating her. No way.

But Mai gave her another sly smile. "But we had a bet, Anzu," she replied.

Anzu groaned. This was horrible. Absolutely horrible. But she wasn't one to break promises. Or leave anything undone, for that matter. With a sigh, she slowly said, "Consider yourself booked."

"Wonderful!" Mai exclaimed. "When do you start work?"

Another sigh. "In two days. I'll have a meeting nailed by the end of the week."

"Great. And not that I doubt you or anything, but if you don't, I'll just give you a replacement task for this bet," Mai replied.

There was a knock on the kitchen door. "You guys done?" Yami's voice asked.

"Yeah. We were just about to come out," Anzu said, opening the door. She gave a quick glance to Yugi that said everything: Nothing happened yesterday. Don't talk about it to anyone. Yugi understood everything from the look in her eyes. He nodded. "Awesome!" he said aloud. "Now we can start the duel between Joey and me!"

"Why would you need us for that?" Mai asked, puzzled.

"Oh, no," Yugi replied."I just wanted to make sure you guys weren't locked in there or something."

"Even if we were, we could get out. I have a knack for picking locks, you know," Anzu answered, rolling her eyes. "Learned how in the States." They all laughed. As everyone sat down again, Mai caught Anzu's eye. "Remember, you've got a week," she mouthed. Anzu gave a slight nod and inwardly groaned. What had she gotten herself into?

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Woot! Finally got that chappie finished. It was long. :sigh: I'm glad I got that done... Sorry for all the cheesy melodrama in the dance battle, though. I couldn't resist myself; I've had the idea of the DDR Freestyle Machine for a long time now.

Sorry for writing so many boring details about the characters' clothing and stuff. I'm a very visual person, and whenever I write/imagine a story or scene, I have to know what the people are wearing. It drives me crazy.

Hmmm... I have the next chapter kind of laid out. It'll have to do with work, and seeing Kaiba. Obviously. But more often than you think. Note: This is not a kaibaxmai pairing!

Again, thank you so much to my awesome reviewers out there, and those secret people that only read. I love all of you! I'll try my hardest to update soon!

Bai Bai

Now and Forever,

Ambiance-Dream